Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson Mystery: The Game is Afoot

For Teachers K - 8th
Students enter and experience the world of Sherlock Holmes and hard-boiled detectives in this unit on mysteries. They review and analyze the ""Whodunit Requirements" and the "Mystery Contract" that accompany this lesson. Each student...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Marvelous Mysteries

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders explore mystery stories.  In this reading and writing lesson plan, 5th graders complete a planning guide for an original mystery.  Students use the writing process to create a mystery story. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring the Mystery Genre

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students determine the story elements of typical mystery stories including characters and plot structure. They look at vocabulary that is common to mystery stories before reading and responding to mystery chapter books. Working in guided...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Game is Afoot - A Study of Sherlock Holmes

For Teachers 5th
Mystery is an exciting genre for young readers to investigate. The plots are so intriguing! Here is a series of lessons featuring Sherlock Holmes stories that invite learners to enter the world of the mystery genre.  Based on what...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mysteries in the Bag

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Young scholars write a story. In this creative writing activity, students guess what is in various containers and open and discuss the contents. Young scholars use one of the container contents to write a mystery story.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Computer Mysteries

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Who has been messing with my trampoline? Young writers choose local events as the basis for their own “Who Did It?” mystery. They then devise a plot, problem, and cast of characters and write an introduction explaining the problem and...
Lesson Plan
Moanalua Gardens Foundation

The Mystery of Rapa Nui

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
What caused the collapse of the environment on Rapa Nui (Easter Island)? Who constructed the Moai? What was their purpose? Class members assume the role of investigators and use evidence drawn from field studies, ships' logs, and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Picture the Process!

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students read "Chasing Vermeer," and then study the author's writing process. They make connections between the book and the author's real life experiences. They then write an original mystery story, following the writing process.
Lesson Plan
ReadWriteThink

Comics in the Classroom as an Introduction to Narrative Structure

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
A picture is worth a thousand words, but a comic strip combines both images and words for the ultimate narrative effect. After reading The Three Little Pigs and deciphering the plot elements, elementary readers work through four...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cuentos

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students revise Spanish mystery stories. They sequence the events from a group's mystery story and suggest revisions for the setting. They revise their stories using the suggestions from classmates and describe characters in folktales....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Mystery of History-Original Sources

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students research the events surrounding the Alamo in 1863, and explore the differences between primary and secondary sources of information. They brainstorm lists of items used to research a subject and categorize them as primary or...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Developing Thinking and Reasoning Skills in Primary Learners Using Detective Fiction

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students are introduced to the genre of detective fiction. Based on their reading level, they are given a different series of books to read. For each story, they are to make predictions and practice decoding messages. To end the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Deep Blue Sea

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Elementary schoolers identify the ocean floor in a geological sense. They create a presentation that highlights the key features of the ocean floor. This terrific lesson plan has excellent streaming video segments embedded in it, and the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Paws in Jobland: Mystery in Jobland I

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Learners appreciate and examine the roles that people play in particular situations. For this career lesson plan, students use research and information skills to perform the roles they are assigned.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mystery of the Real Robinson Crusoe Solved

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students explore the location of the campsite of fictional character Robinson Crusoe. In this ESL lesson, students read an article that discusses the whereabouts of Robinson Crusoe's campsite, then have a class discussion on the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

River of Venom

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Read an exciting science mystery about killer bees online, evaluate a list of clues, and try to answer the questions correctly. The story responds to the reader's choices and presents research material for the next step. Though the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Walk and Talk Health and PE Activity

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Students practice concepts they are studying while exercising. In this health and fitness lesson plan, studnets walk and job while discussing current classroom lessons.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Treasure Chest

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students explore Chicago in the fur-trading era. In this Chicago lesson, students discover what life what like during this time. Students read an historical fiction story about life in the fur-trade era. Students view replicas of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Regarding the Fountain: Questioning Strategy—Cubing

For Teachers 3rd - 7th Standards
Look deeper into the text with a reading strategy based on asking critical thinking questions. While reading Reading the Fountain by Kate Klise, learners think of questions that help them describe, compare, associate, analyze,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Buried in Ice: The Mystery of a Lost Arctic Expedition

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students read a novel about a lost arctic expedition by Sir John Franklin. In groups, they discuss the author's quest to determine what happened to Franklin and his crew. Using the internet, they compare and contrast the expeditions by...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

ReQuest and Motor Imaging with My Side of the Mountain

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders read "My Side of the Mountain." They create a pantomime using vocabulary words from the story. Students create three questions about the reading. They discuss the passage they read and act out words to help them better...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

I Can Comprehend What I Read

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students practice asking themselves questions as they read to help increase comprehension. In a large group, they discuss the typical format of a story and create a list of possible questions to ask themselves. They individually read...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Children's Literature Across the Curriculum Ideas-Polar, The Titanic Bear

For Teachers K - 5th
Students read Polar, The Titanic Bear by Daisy Corning Stone Spedden. They complete a variety of cross-curricular activities surrounding this true story of a toy bear that survived the sinking of the Titanic. Included are reading, art,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Treasures of Ancient Egypt

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students explore Ancient Egypt by learning about the after life, observing and discussing pictures of mummies, making jewelry, and more. In this Ancient Egypt lesson plan, students complete these activities in class and at a museum.